Old Mutual dinner leads to special dates in the actuarial calendar

The Old Mutual Actuarial Society (OMAS) recently held its annual dinner — a glittering event held at Meloncino Restaurant at the V and A Waterfront in Cape Town. The 90 guests comprised a spectrum of OMAS members, from first-years to respected senior actuaries, who were treated to a three-course dinner.

OMAS was established in the 1980s to perform the daunting task of organising the social lives of the actuaries and actuarial students of Old Mutual, and it hosts a number of events throughout the year. Popular events include a general knowledge quiz, beach volleyball, pubs of the month and a ladies’ breakfast, as well as more academic endeavours.

The OMAS committee enforced a dress code for the evening and, surprisingly, the actuaries played along. The standard actuarial uniform of chinos and pencil skirts was shed in favour of fedoras, suspenders, feathers and pearls. Hilda Joseph, who was a guest of honour at the dinner, enthused that “it was refreshing to spend a night on the town with my colleagues. Cape Town actuaries definitely know how to live ‘la dolce vita’”.

As part of the dinner, OMAS launched its very own wall calendar, the first of its kind, which features actuarial employees of Old Mutual South Africa. The objective of the calendar was not only to provide some entertainment for the 150 OMAS members, but also to prove to the world that members of the actuarial profession can be creative and glamorous. Each month’s photograph captures a tongue-in- cheek actuarial theme, combined with a link to the respective month. Abu Addae, for example, ushers in January by weightlifting ActEd files (and abiding by his New Year’s resolution of exercising his option to study). A copy of the much-anticipated calendar was unveiled dramatically using life-size versions of some of the monthly photos.

It is expected that the calendar project will become an annual publication, eventually being used to raise funds for a South African charity. For the moment, though, the actuaries of Old Mutual can be assured that in 2011 they will be breaking stereotypes — one month at a time.